Vanuatu: Land of Kava and People Eaters... or just Cyclones

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Ohh man, Im brand new to this fancy schmancy blogging thing, but Im going to give it my darndest. Ill try to use this format in order to let any of my family and/or friends ( basically anybody who cares to read some sometimes incoherent babble and waste 10 -15 min of their perfectly good time) know what is going on around this side of the planet. I hope that I dont let ya down... Here goes....

Well, after just around 40hrs of sitting on planes, but mostly in airports, my traveling partner and new attorney , The Benn and I arrived in the land where strong Kava flows like wine and where it is said that some of the natives still practice the culinary art of cannibalism. Ahh, Vanuatu! We made it and I have to say that it much warmer than the -18 degree temps that we left back in Wyoming. It is really pretty temperate here I must say. I only sweat myself to sleep if the malaria/ dengue fever carrying mosquitoes calm down enough to let me do so. I love the guy who invented the mosquito net! I really am enjoying it here though. Port Villa the capital, is a strange mix of super rich foreigners using the place as a tax haven and the kava drinking Ni-Vanuatus (natives). So far, Im a huge fan of the locals. Always a huge smile and wanting to shake your hand and having a tok tok.

After spending a few days in Villa, The Benn and I found our way north of the capital in the back of a truck. We took a ferry over to the small outlying island called Moso Island. The place is amazing! The Bluest water that I have ever seen...anywhere with some much better than average diving. We are starting to see some of the wrecks left behind during WWII. More of those will come when we move to the Solomans and PNG. We ended up staying in thatched roof fares right next to the beach. not bad diggs really, but som wicked bad mossies, eh? While there, I went on one of my wanders alone and ended up running into a paster of a church in the local village. Out of nowhere, he just set down all of his work (cutting firewood) and too me on a tour through his village. I must have met almost have the 400 residents including the Chief! Amazing experience! The locals are just so giving and wonderful.

Since Im running out of time here, Ill speed up. We left the Island today basically because everybody has been telling us that there is a Cyclone headed straight for the main island of Efate...which we are on. We will see what happens, but we figured that heading to higher ground may be a good idea. So, we went back across the bay and jumped into the back of an open truck (Benn got the dry front seat) where all of us in the back proceeded to get as wet as we would have if we just jumped into the ocean. Oh yea, and the truck driver was driving like it was his job to kill us all and everybody who happened to be on the road. Anyways, we made it back to Villa, albeit a tad wet , but with a huge smile on my face. I love these experiences!
So now we are in Villa at a Hotel/Hostel currently listening to who I think is Randy Travis on the loudspeaker, and "hunkering" down for a possible Cyclone. What could be better? Ill tell you... NO RANDY TRAVIS! Running out of time. Ill talk yo you all later. Have fun in the cold

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Comments

[Leslie]

Snow
Hey, it hasn't stopped snowing since you left! Glad you're having fun, can't really get too upset for you having to swat mosquitos!

[Ryan T.]

Vicarious Living
Yo Krafty, Glad to hear of the adventures and stories. I knew i would live a bit through your journey and hearing about them on the net, but now that I am out with a broken femur and dislocated elbow, all the more so. You may experience a cyclone, but at least there are no avalanches in the south Pacific.

[Josh]

Yeah
Sounds like you guys are already having fun. Keep writing and I'll keep reading. Take Care